Scaling MySQL Databases for the Web

Vitess is an open source project that packages many of the ad-hoc processes and conventions that grew out of managing and scaling MySQL at YouTube.

Relational databases like MySQL were initially built and optimized for non-web OLTP systems. However, they have still managed to fulfill most of the needs of large scale web applications. Many of their legacy requirements have held them back from being able to optimally meet the needs of today’s applications. This has led to the development of alternate storage solutions (NoSQL) which in some respects have thrown the baby out with the bathwater.

With Vitess, we take a different approach. We think that databases like MySQL have what it takes to provide an efficient data storage layer. What is missing is the ability to easily scale out and then coordinate many instances of a single logical schema. The way we plan to achieve this is by providing a subset SQL front end with limited guarantees and a loosely coupled distributed system to automate complex management scenarios.

Track:

Trends in Architecture and Design

Experience level:

Intermediate

Schedule info

Schedule Info

Speakers

Sugu works for the YouTube architecture team. He's worked on various scalability projects there. He is a major contributor to the recently released Vitess open source project. Prior to YouTube, Sugu worked for the architecture team at PayPal where he built many of PayPal's core features. He also has many years of experience in development environments, compilers, and computer graphics.

Mike Solomon works at YouTube focusing on distributed systems. He collaborated on the recently released Vitess project and is actively working improvements to the efficiency of Youtube's MySQL infrastructure.